International Trade

Measuring Protectionism. Comparing tariffs is insufficient in measuring protectionism as there are many other methods of reducing home market access (ad valorem and specific duties, prohibitions, tariff quotas, anti-dumping duties, norms). Market Access Maps are one way of measuring the cumulative effect of these barriers. By Antoine Bouët, Lionel Fontagné, Mondher Mimouni, and Xavier Pichot of by CEPII.

Foreign Direct Investment. Although foreign direct investment (FDI) contributes to growth in developing countries, there is evidence that the benefits are not equally distributed. Foreign-owned firms tend to pay higher wages in developing countries, but skilled workers tend to benefit more than less-skilled workers. This conclusion is based on new research conducted into the effects of FDI on wages in five East Asian economies and the effects of foreign ownership in five African countries. While FDI may support development in the aggregate, more attention should be focused on the distribution of gains from FDI, notably effects on wage inequality. "Foreign Direct Investment: Who Gains?" by Dirk Willem te Velde and Oliver Morrissey is published by the Overseas Development Institute.

Liberalizing Trade in the EU. Jette Steen Knudsen asks why and how services that were not previously thought of as tradable have increasingly been opened up to international competition in EU member states including even in Germany. "A Paradigm Shift: Services Trade Reform in the European Union" is published by the Danish Institute of International Affairs (DUPI).

Foreign Direct Investment & EU Tax Harmonisation. What would the effect of tax competition between EU states be on foreign direct investment? The Centre d'Etudes Prospectives et d'Informations Internationales have provided this econometric analysis of the impact of taxes on the decision of firms to locate their activities in other countries. This is a sophisticated research paper which helps to shed light on the debate over the harmonisation of taxes in Europe. By Agnès Bénassy-Quéré, Lionel Fontagné and Amina Lahrèche-Révil..